Hovercraft Service to Return to North Wales?

Could Rhyl’s seaside see a hovercraft speeding by for the near future?

A mode of travel around North Wales which is a thing of the past is the hovercraft which was very popular back in the 60’s but was sadly disbanded. Now though, there are calls to implement the service again, making it even easier to get to your Liverpool, Rhyl and Llandudno hotels.

Initially stationed in Rhyl, the Vickers VA3 hovercraft was a popular way to get around by families back in 1962 but after the engines failed on a routine journey, and the craft eventually came to break upon Rhyl’s promenade wall. Hailed as the world’s first passenger hovercraft, the mode of transport has yet to make a reappearance on the North Wales coastline.

However, an impassioned RNLI volunteer has begun the ambitious first steps for the hovercraft to be reinstated.

Simon Clitheroe from Wirral has projected a craft that will travel from Liverpool to North Wales and then finally onto Blackpool. The journey could take as little as 50 minutes from Blackpool to Rhyl in what can only be a boost for the area’s already flourishing sector.

Mr. Clitheroe had this to say on the matter: “Over the past 18 months we have undertaken major talks with key players and partners within the region and are hopeful to announce the start of the service by early 2015”

He is also not short of backers either with the MP for the Vale of Clwyd, Chris Ruane, being more than optimistic that it can take off.

“Within three days of my speech in Parliament, I have been approached by three separate hovercraft companies that want to establish a hovercraft link between Rhyl and Liverpool,” said Ruane,”Rhyl had the first hovercraft passenger service in the world and to see it reinstated 50 years after it ceased would be fantastic.

“It would provide a gateway for tourists from the Liverpool city region directly to Rhyl town centre.”

The future for this project is an interesting one to watch unfold but if it was to go ahead, it would undoubtedly be a great boost for the whole of North Wales.

“rhyl beach” by www.flickr.com/photos/ben124/ and “hovercraft” by www.flickr.com/photos/skuds/

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